Sabotage at Kefalonia

The Sabotage at Kefalonia occurred in 1499 when members of the Jewish community of Cephalonia, acting on the orders of the powerful merchant Mattai, burnt down the Ottoman fleet as it sat in the harbor for Ramadan. The Ottoman fleet's destruction was a part of a favor granted to Pope Alexander VI in exchange for his lifting of taxes placed upon the Jews in Rome.

History
In 1499, the Ottoman Turks began attacking Venetian coastal settlements and trade routes in the Mediterranean, negatively affecting trade in the region. The Venetian ambassador to the Papal States told Pope Alexander VI that the Papacy would suffer from this as well, as it was trade partners with Venice. The Pope decided to declare a crusade against the Turks, and he levied new taxes on the people of Rome to pay for this war. The recently-arrived Turkish Jews, led by Mattai, sought relief from these taxes, as they were not as rich as the Pope had imagined. Mattai offered to have the entire Ottoman fleet burned down at the harbor of Kefalonia - he had Jewish contacts on the island who could purchase enough oil to set it ablaze - in exchange for the Pope lifting the financial burdens off of the Jewish people in Rome. The Pope issued a Papal bull ending the taxation, and the Jewish community in Kefalonia followed through with its promises. The Jews painted the Ottoman ships with oil and set them on fire at night, destroying the entire fleet. Now, the Ottomans no longer posed an immediate threat to the Adriatic Sea, in addition to the Mediterranean Sea.